Kresten Cook retired as deputy to the commander of the Corpus Christi Army Depot this past January. He will serve as United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce president and CEO until a new one is hired as a result of a nationwide search launched in early April. Courtesy photo
An interim president has been appointed to the United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce while a nationwide search for a new president and CEO has begun. Kresten Cook, who recently retired as the deputy to the commander of the Corpus Christi Army Depot, will take over from resigning president Annette Medlin when she leaves April 27.
Cook has served 33 years at the Army Depot. He retired from that position, which is the highest civilian leadership role at the depot, this past January, He is currently a charter member of the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Engineering Advisory Council and a member of the South Texas Military Facilities Task Force. He previously served on the board of the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce and is a graduate of Leadership Corpus Christi Class 18 and a member of the LCC Executive Steering Committee.
“We are confident in the decision to appoint Kresten Cook as interim CEO and president,” said Alan Wilson, chairman of the chamber. “Kresten’s ability to successfully navigate an organization is evident from his dedicated career at the Corpus Christi Army Depot. He is well prepared to oversee the chamber’s operations and will ensure chamber programs and services run with a high degree of excellence during this transition.”
Medlin, who has served as chamber president and CEO for 15 months, is leaving to take a position in Fisherville, Virginia, with the Greater Augusta Regional Chamber of Commerce.
“It has been an honor to serve this community,” Medlin said. “Together, we have worked very hard to position the chamber for a successful and impactful future.”
Medlin was hired in January 2016, replacing Foster Edwards, who retired after more than six years at the helm. Edwards now heads the San Patricio Economic Development Corp.
The chamber was undergoing a major change as it was merging with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a vote that was approved by members of both organizations in December 2015. A nationwide search led to Medlin, a professional chamber executive from North Carolina. She came to the job with more than 20 years’ experience in nonprofit management and 12 years working with chambers.
She began her job with a top-to-bottom assessment of both chambers, methodically and successfully restructuring the organizations to become the United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce by September 2016. A gifted public speaker, facilitator, coach and writer, she also launched a new initiative, the Total Resource Campaign, which wraps up just as Medlin leaves.
“The Total Resource Campaign is a model that has been used in chambers around the country for the last 40 years,” Medlin said when the program was announced in February. “It allows the chamber to roll out its entire book of business for a 12-month period during a short, 10-week timeframe, once a year. It lets us make one ask and then not come back again for a whole year.”
From 80 to 100 volunteers were trained to canvass city businesses sharing sponsorship, marketing and advertising opportunities available through chamber resources. The all-volunteer program is led by former mayor and current mayoral candidate Nelda Martinez.
That initiative and the merger will most likely be a lasting legacy of Medlin’s time in Corpus Christi.
“I am very proud of what we have accomplished during my time here,” she said, “and I am looking forward to watching the chamber grow and flourish in the years to come.”
Medlin assured the board she had not been looking for a new job, but when she saw this one, she knew she had to apply. Virginia is much closer to her family, she said, and in an area she had already pinpointed as the ideal place to retire.
